By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
SEYMOUR — Benjamin Noffke threw for 161 yards and three touchdowns to lift New London to a 28-7 Bay Conference victory over Seymour Oct. 30.
New London sophomore running back Kyle Wisniewski totaled more than 100 yards rushing and receiving.
“Kyle made some huge catches for us down the sidelines to keep drives going,” said Kyle Collins, New London head coach. “We challenged our offensive line tonight to get the ball moving in the right direction.”
New London churned out 319 yards of total offense, while Seymour had 210, with 179 of those coming after halftime.
Thunder quarterback Peyton VanDeHei threw for 152 yards and one touchdown.
Unofficially, Tyler Thomas led the Seymour defense with 12 tackles, two of those coming for losses.
Late in the first quarter, with neither team moving the ball, the Thunder lined up for a punt from midfield.
The snap went over Logan Mattson’s head, and New London recovered the ball deep inside Seymour territory.
All it took was one play for the Bulldogs to strike.
Noffke lofted a high ball to Gabe Wohlt, who hauled in the 20-yard touchdown reception to give the visitors a 7-0 lead with 1:55 remaining in the opening quarter.
“We have to get out of our own way and quit digging big holes like we did again tonight,” said Matt Molle, Seymour head coach. “We had a chance to battle in the first half and then we have a special team’s error.”
The second quarter didn’t prove any better for Seymour, as they mustered only 7 yards of total offense.
Meanwhile, New London went on a 58-yard drive on its first possession of the second quarter – capped off by Wisniewski’s 6-yard touchdown run.
The final touchdown of the quarter came on a reception by tight end Jack Grable from 10 yards out after Noffke was flushed from the pocket and delivered a strike in the back of the end zone.
The result gave New London a 21-0 lead before intermission.
Whatever was said at halftime seemed to work in the second half for the Thunder, as Peyton VanDeHei moved the offense down the field on each possession.
However, each of the first three drives was stymied by two interceptions and a fourth-down turnover-on-downs.
Late in the fourth quarter, with the Thunder down 28-0, they put together a 9-play, 80-yard drive, which ended with Carson Molle hauling in a 26-yard touchdown reception on 4th and 16 to cut the lead to 28-7.
“To see those guys do what they did was pretty awesome,” added Molle. “I’m always happy when we put together drives in the third and fourth quarters. We have to do it more often and capitalize.”
The Thunder (1-5) will travel to Xavier Friday, Nov. 6, while New London (2-2) will host Little Chute.
Box score:
New London: 7, 14, 0, 7 — 28
Seymour: 0, 0, 0, 7 — 7